If you were in a canoe in the middle of a large river or lake and suddenly needed to be on the shore you know that you cannot teleport. You can’t jump that far either. At the same time you know you need to keep an eye on where you are headed. Negative self talk and staring at the canoe bottom won’t get you there any faster. You have to navigate to where you need to and want to be.

Continued from: The Power of Thinking Positive! How To Make Your Thoughts Work For You Parts 1-7

So you paddle. Each stroke gets you there bit by bit. With consistent effort you get there eventually. The time will go by swifter if you are in a good frame of mind rather than a poor frame of mind. We all know this about the passage of time. The point is you can’t jump, you can’t make that large of a leap. You have to get to the shoreline incrementally. You get closer with each paddle you make.

Sometimes we discover that we are in a funk and we want to feel better. We want to feel ecstasy but that is too big a leap from where you are at. You have to incrementally move toward ecstasy one paddle at a time.

First, maybe you need to take a walk, calm down, talk it out to dissipate the energy, use some relaxation methods or NLP technique to chill and get some distance. You need to get into neutral and from neutral move forward toward ecstasy. Remember, you move forward one paddle stroke at a time.

For example: Eventually, you move from devastation to okay, then from okay to not so bad, then on to feeling better and from better to amused. Then you move from amused to calm well being and from there toward a subtle happiness. From happiness you move to exhilaration and from there to ecstasy. You do it in steps or stages moving only as fast as you can change from one feeling to the next better one. Don’t rush.

Some form of this process occurs when left alone. When you don’t actually seem to do anything. This is what can happen anyway given enough time. ‘Time heals all wounds.’ The healing occurs as we move from the one stuck state bit by bit to other emotional states of being.

We eventually move on and leave the less than glorious feelings behind. This IS what happens when we say time heals all wounds. You begin to get free to behave in other ways. Actually, you do participate in the process but very, very slowly and mostly outside of consciousness. It just seems as if time is the great healer but,in reality, it is the changes you adopt during the lengthy time frame that are.

To take charge of your feelings means you become aware and recognize where you are at. You acknowledge where you are and accept it. You allow it, even thank it, because it is a signal. You may not feel total gratitude at first but go through this process enough times and you’ll get better at it. Through spaced repetition it will become automatic.

Be grateful when you recognize that you are stuck or resisting. It could be your own thoughts and feelings or behaviors that you resist. You could be resisting another person who presents a challenge, or events and circumstances that aren’t to your liking. Whatever it is, once you recognize it or become aware of it in the moment, you then feel thankful that you are moving into freedom to feel and be anything else.

From stuck (which you know you don’t want) you have to choose what you’d rather feel instead. It should be different than what you are currently feeling and just a little bit better or more positive. If you are depressed anger would be a more positive step because when angry you tend to do things. You are active and engaged when feeling anger.

You choose baby steps back toward feeling awesome. There are signals that accompany each step. If you take too big a leap and you feel frustrated, or saddened or worse, go back and make a tiny step.

Do not get caught up in thinking about things too much. Let go. If you can’t easily decide on what the next baby step is then just take a guess. GUESS! Guess whatever feeling state might be more appropriate to move to. Try it

If you get a signal that what you tried isn’t the right one, guess again. Repeat this until you get the relief. When you do this you learn a great many things and train yourself to be so much more resourceful. I will address more of this later. When you can’t consciously pick a more resourceful state trust your inner wisdom by taking a guess. Both work! You can be delightfully surprised.

Anytime, ANYTIME, you encounter negative feelings or feeling stuck or resistance, you course correct. You move back toward neutral and then back toward positive. This is what a guidance system does, this is what happens in autopilot. This is what you would do if you were driving to another city and you discovered you went off the course. You would turn around and course correct. You navigate back to where you want to end up.

This is what I mean by controlling you emotions. When you take charge of your thinking and feeling you do not force yourself to feel other than you do. What we feel is important and we can feel many things. You do not invalidate your feelings all of them are valuable.

This is an incredible skill to learn and as with all skills you learn by doing. The more you have an opportunity to do this, to repeat it, and you make the correct actions the faster you make it a positive habit.

You learn how to let go and accept whenever it is necessary. You validate all emotions. Pain is an indicator that something needs attention in the body or the psyche so that it can be healed and resolved. We may not like the sensations but the signals are there for very important reasons. The signals are their to get our attention so that we engage in the correct actions to remedy what is wrong.

If you hurt yourself of feel ill the signals are their for you to seek attention, stop activity that might further injure, rest, relax and recover. Pain serves a very useful and important function.

Many people tend to fight and ignore the signals until the problem is larger than it would have been had they caught it early enough. If we are able to catch the beginning point of the emotion we can prevent what is called ’emotional flooding’ wherein we get saturated with feelings from the chemicals surging inside us.

When the sensations are wonderful we don’t mind so much but if they are painful we don’t like it and resist it. Then we hurt all the more. Imagine a snowball on the top of a huge mountain. If it rolls down it gathers snow becomes very large and practically unstoppable. The more it travels and the larger it becomes the more momentum it has. It can devastate everything in its path.

In order to stop the negative feelings we have to catch the feelings when they are only a tiny snow ball atop the mountain. If we can catch them when we first get the signal we can prevent them from becoming to large. The opportunity presents itself each time we feel less than glorious. The signal is there for us to pay attention to.

The signal is there from the onset. What each of us needs to do is learn to recognize it and acknowledge it. Accept it, be grateful we got the signal and then nudge ourselves to feel something a little less ‘bad’. We nudge ourselves toward feeling a little more positive. This is how we can prevent the snowball from crushing the village below. We circumvent the disaster when we learn to do things a new way.

You can do this. It is possible. It gets easier and easier. Trust me you don’t have to find times to do this exercise they will seem to appear all on their own. You simply want to take advantage of them as they occur.You may make mistakes, that is okay. You may have been doing things another way for much of your life. When you begin to learn to do things in a new way there is a learning curve so be gentle with yourself. Whenever you notice yourself thinking or feeling less than glorious give yourself a gentle nudge.

For more than 20 years in my live seminars I have taught this and other powerful processes that countless students have used with great success. It works. They did it so can you!

Here is some very good news. If any one human can learn to do anything all the rest can too. While it is true that some may be naturally better than others ANYONE can learn what another person has learned to do.

If you are 4’6 you may not get to play basktetball with the giants but you can become the best 4’6 basketball player to ever hit the courts. You have to know that the potential resides in you. It lies dormant until it is awakened. You awake it by determining what you want, defining your goal, and pursuing it passionately.

It doesn’t matter how young or old you are, tall or short, fat or thin, the color of your skin, your nationality, your religion or politics. Within you is great potential! Do not let it go to waste. Do not let anything stop you. Never let a ‘negative’ thought or feeling prevent you from living the life you deserve. Pursue your passions and make your dreams come true.” Rex Sikes

More will follow – meanwhile celebrate this day!

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What do I mean when I say we take charge and control our emotions? I mean this; our emotions are all valuable and part of us. Each and every emotion is a valuable and meaningful. Whether we consider an emotion positive or negative all of them are what being human is about. They are all wonderful even the not so wonderful ones! Why is that you ask? You may not believe what I just mentioned. You might even disagree but all of our emotions are useful and necessary.

Continued from: The Power of Thinking Positive! How To Make Your Thoughts Work For You Parts 1- 6

Our emotions are valuable because they are indicators. Each one is a signal for us as to where we are and what we are experiencing. They signal us what direction we are moving in. They let us know whether we are moving closer or further away from our goals and desires.

When we feel good inside ourselves, we are open and allowing, we are permitting and inviting, we are energetically attracting more wonderful thoughts and feelings. When we feel happy and joyful we are on the right track to getting what we want. We are available and receptive. The goal for us is to be feeling this way most of the time.

When we feel poorly or bad, we are either stuck or resisting. Either we are not moving forward but stuck somewhere on the pathway or we are resisting letting anything come to us. We have shut down the flood gates. We are moving away from our goals and desires. We are stuck or we have blocked the flow. We are attracting or creating more of the same all the while we are thinking and feeling the negativity.

Once we understand this it means that we can monitor where we are on the path. If we get off course we can make the necessary adjustments to get back on track. The feelings are a signal that we need to return our focus to the positive.

Whenever you feel less than glorious you have the opportunity recognize that something is amiss. The feeling you had is a signal. Use the signal. Explore and examine what you are thinking about, shed light on it. Perhaps, you are resisting some thought, or some person, or performing some action. What were you focused right before the feelings alerted you? What are you focusing on as you have the feelings?

Keep in mind that whatever we resist persists. SO when you become aware that you are feeling less than glorious you want to begin to change it. You want to nudge yourself back into neutral and then into feeling good. You can get back on track. If there are blocks or worries or fears or any negativity you have the opportunity to release these and move forward. This is great news and it is easy to do.

Negative emotions are great in that they let us know that we need to change something in that moment. We can get back on track to feeling good do and continue to move on track toward what it is we want.

A negative or bad circumstance is a blessing! It lets you know instantly what you do not want. Once you know what you don’t want it is important to focus on what you DO want instead.

Negative events (something bad happens) ARE unwanted so clarify what you do want. Define what you want instead. Put your energy and attention on what it is you want and keep it there. Let go of what happened and what you don’t want and focus on what you do.

For some people a problem or a disaster is the impetus for them to become successful. (Success may mean wealth, health, family, relationships anything at all). Bad news often precedes great change.

There are countless examples of very wealthy, healthy, successful people who overcame great challenges, horrible life events, failure, bad family and upbringing and the worst of all possible situations who used the negative to propel them into the positive. They closed the door on disaster and sought success because they knew precisely what they wanted to have.

Our less than glorious emotions and circumstances, negative events and people can be the trigger for us to decide to move from what we want to avoid and toward what we want instead.

These helps us clarify. Some people have trouble stating what it is they want. The say, ‘I don’t want to be broke!’ These same people think they ARE thinking positive when they say “I don’t want to be broke’. They aren’t. When they think, “I don’t want to be broke’, BROKE is the focus. You don’t get rich focusing on not having money, lack, and disappointment.

What they need to focus on and hold in their mind is not thoughts of being broke but thoughts of having plenty. They now know what it is they don’t want so they need to turn their back on it and begin to think and focus on what they DO want. They need to think, ‘I want to be financially free. I want money to do whatever I want whenever I want.’ or similar thoughts to these.

Most people are not aware when they are thinking less than glorious thoughts. Hooray, this is why we have the feeling! They let us know when we went from thinking positive to not thinking positive. They signal us that we changed something inside us and are off track.

If we are thinking ‘I don’t want to be broke’ and we feel bad then that is a signal to focus on wealth creation instead. The bad feeling is saying “HEY HUMAN!!!! This is not working to get you want you want’ YES, YOU, I AM TALKING TO YOU! FEEL THIS”.

And the human feels worse, then thinks worse thoughts and feels worse even more because the unconscious servo mechanism goes. ‘Oh okay this is what you are feeling strongly about – BROKE – okay we will bring you more broke and more feelings. Happy to oblige!’. The servo mechanism doesn’t know you don’t want BROKE, it can’t tell you don’t want broke, because, after all, that is what occupies your attention. SO you get even more of it.

You attract and create whatever you want AND whatever you don’t want based on what you are thinking and feeling most of the time. SO if you are feeling bad most of the time, guess what. THIS is why the goal is to feel good most of the time. To feel alive and delighted and joyful and ecstatic. Then the servo mechanism obliges and you create more good feelings and positive energy!

We will always have negative and positive thoughts. We will never eliminate all negative thinking (most likely) but we can replace the negative thoughts with more positive ones. We become mostly positive and mostly feeling good most of the time. When we feel otherwise it is that signal to help get us back on track. So be greateful to that signal. Say, ‘thank you for showing me I was off base’.

When you car breaks down and one or two things are wrong keep in mind that most of it is fine. 98 percent of it works well. Once you fix what needed attending to you can move ahead again.

When you find yourself encountering something you don’t want or don’t like keep in mind there is so much more going on in the world, your world around you, that is fine and going well! Once you find a solution you will continue moving forward. Do not get caught up in the drama of circumstances. Look for something to be grateful about instead.

No matter what is going on when things are crumbling around you what you can’t see in those moments are all the great wonderful things that are simultaneously occurring. Because you are looking at the negative circumstances you are missing all the positive ones.

Train yourself to turn and look at those things you appreciate, that you are thankful for right then. When you are fighting the battle with the negative circumstances you are resisting and blocking. You need to open the flow and the blessings.

In order to have the flow you have to begin to shift back toward feeling good. This is of the easiest means of shifting focus and feelings in addition to taking a walk, get some exercise or a massage, and doing something you enjoy like singing, dancing, golfing or…

Bad people, events and circumstances, your own negativity are fingers point at the moon. Keep your eye on the moon don’t focus on the fingers. These are only signals to get you to turn you attention to where you need to place it to get what you want.

You cannot get safely to your destination driving while focusing on the gear shift. You have to keep you eyes and mind on where you want to go, what you want to create and not let anything distract you or stop you. Do not get caught up in the pitfalls.

Instead, use the signals to get unstuck or release blockages so you can continue to allow good things to come your way. I think all of this is incredible news. It helps us understand how in marvelous we are as humans.

Keep this in mind. You have a monitoring system to help you stay feeling wonderful. Most of us don’t know how to use it. Now you are learning to. Train your mind to see the good in any situation. Find what it is to be grateful about and focus on that. Any moment of the day you are either feeling wonderful or you aren’t – your feelings let you know. Change it.

Train yourself to feel good and just like any skill you practice you will get better at it and it will get easier. Repetition is important!One day it will be a reliable, automatic habit and you will consistently delight and amaze yourself. So celebrate now because this is the only moment we have!” Rex Sikes

More will follow – meanwhile celebrate this day!

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What is an affirmation? It could be an an accurate observation of the current moment. It could be a statement of fact. It could be an opinion. It is a declaration and an assertion. It is positive and to use the word itself it is affirming. It promotes well-being and positivity, it is designed to encourage and support.

Continued from: The Power of Thinking Positive! How To Make Your Thoughts Work For You Parts 1- 5

Let’s take an example. Abundance is a current buzz word that some enjoy and some are growing tired of. I think it is worthy to use for examination. Let’s try this on: ‘We live in an abundant universe. Abundance flows to me and through me. I deserve riches and all good things. I am wealthy in every way. I give to and I help others from my abundance’.

Some people will say, ‘nope we live in a world where resources are being depleted and there are too many people’. That may be. Still there is, at this time, plenty of air, sun, darkness, food, water, money and everything else needed for everyone on the planet to thrive.

The biggest problem for us is not that these things are scare but that people don’t have access to them. That is a sad, very sad. It is unfortunate and people should act to rectify it. It is horrible when the political powers in charge allow or force people to go without. Yes, very sad because food, water and resources are plentiful but people are prevented. Everyone deserves health, wealth, well-being and the pursuit of happiness. This is a discussion for elsewhere.

There is plenty to go around. There is plenty of power and electricity, all types of necessary goods, frivolous items, and money. There is so much money. Money is everywhere! Some have much more than others. Many of those who do have money attempt to thwart others access to it. Still, there is more than enough money everywhere. There are countless wealthy people everywhere. Many millionaires and beyond have made their money in the best and the worst of times. Money is plentiful always.

Consider that none of the statements regarding abundance might be accurate. Or the all could be or just some parts them could be true. After all the statements are just sentences you either agree with or you don’t. You decide what you want to agree with or disagree with. You will have your own reasons, or excuses.

You will also experience the life style that accompanies your beliefs about those simple sentences. You either will have more than enough, enough, just enough or not enough. You determine it all by what you think, believe and by where you place the cause of the lifestyle you live. You either accept yourself as the cause of it or you put it off onto others and circumstances.

If you put it off onto others there is probably little you can do about it unless you learn how to better communicate with them regarding your needs and improving your lot. If it is circumstances holding you back then either you give up and allow them to dictate your life or you find a way to legally alter them for your benefit. If you accept responsibility for yourself and your lifestyle you can change whatever you need to in order to change your lifestyle.

Let’s examine briefly some of the example statements and find out what is the up side and down side to thinking that way. We live in an abundant universe. Of course, someone could object stating that everything is limited and that we are wasteful. They could assert that if we aren’t vigilant we will run out. There is not enough for everyone and there are people in poverty.

This is not an illogical nor necessarily false statement. It is a view of current circumstances. The person who embraces such a view may operate from the view by helping others because they believe that is important. They may practice conserveing, they may give away their money OR they may do nothing but live in fear and worry. Anything is possible.

The person who believes there is abundance could be a pig and a hoarder and consume wantonly without regard for others. This is definitely possible. On the other hand they could see the world as a friendly living place with enough to go around for all. This may inspire them to work to see to it that all people have access to resources and plenty. They may be inspired to create all manner of wealth, beautiful experiences and good things.

Few, if any, people get rich focused on poverty. Those who get rich make their riches because they turn their backs on poverty. They don’t focus on scarcity and what they don’t have instead they focus on making what they want. They know what they want to have an include and where they want to get to. They are driven to accumulate.

To declare a war on poverty, while well meaning, places the emphasis in the wrong place. Instead of wiping out poverty let’s create and utilize abundance. Let’s make sure people have all they need not just the basic necessities. To create wealth and well-being for all should be the goal but it isn’t.

To declare war on anything seems to be a less than optimal way to make changes in our world. It states what we want to end but does not give clear picture or indication what we want to build and have instead. This is proven over and over again many times through history.

The goal isn’t to eradicate poverty but to insure that all people have more than enough. The person who thinks and believes the world is plentiful finds examples to support that point of view just as the person who thinks scarcity is the state of being finds examples to support their viewpoint.

I realize there is more that I don’t know than I could ever possibly know. If I err, I prefer to err on the side of what can be done and what is positive and hopeful than otherwise. I could be wrong about the world being abundant but I know it feels better to believe it is.

One point of view is not more right than the other in my world, but some make us feel better than the other. There are some people who may extract great joy in feeling bad but most people seem to want to feel good. In order to feel better we need to think the thoughts that make us feel better. Feeling just okay is not an option.

We need to choose what makes us feel the best and put our attention on that. The goal is to live fully and joyfully feeling wonderful as much of the time as we can. Years ago I declared this world my garden paradise. I claimed ownership. I realized I could either have an ecstatic life of I could have something else. I opted for an ecstatic life. I also realized that there are plenty of co-owners I share this planet with and determined we could all celebrate, if we only would.

I prefer to include everyone in my abundant world. Not everyone will gain or have everything they need or want. There are poor. I don’t blame them that is not my place to judge. I prefer to operate from the Golden Rule and what great religious leaders, philosophers and visionaries have had to say about compassion, understanding and ministering to those. I do believe that givers get but that is not the reason to give. Give simply to give.

Some people will agree completely with each of these statements I used as example while others may not. ‘The universe is plentiful. I deserve and attract all good things. I am wealthy in every way. Because I am wealthy I help others’.

Some may not feel that they deserve riches. They may not feel like they attract good things. If you don’t feel that you deserve riches, if you don’t feel wealthy now, most likely you won’t be or become wealthy any time soon. This is because wealth, just like health and well-being is a mind set. It is the adoption and adherence to certain attitudes and principles. The wealthy look at themselves and the world differently than those who don’t enjoy it. We will examine this more later.

In order to HAVE wealth (or anything, a relationship, health, a parent) one must first BE the kind of person who can have it. In order to have you need to BE AND DO FIRST. In order to be rich you need to think rich thoughts. In order to be healthy you need to think healthy thoughts. In order to attract a loving partner you need to be a loving partner first.

You can DO everything right and work real hard but if your attitude and mind set, if your thoughts and beliefs don’t support and encourage you it is unlikely you will have wealth, health or much happiness unless you get really lucky and inherit it or win the lottery etc. ‘As a man thinketh in his heart so he is’ is a nice little Biblical saying that says, ‘You are your thoughts’.

The wealthy don’t think impoverishing, lackluster, deprecating thoughts. They may or may not practice affirmations as we discuss here but they certainly think differently than most of the rest of the world. They most assuredly feel they deserve to be wealthy and that money is plentiful, easy to make and attain. The see opportunity all around them because they are primed to see it. If they loose money they will just make some more. Money is to enjoy life. Abundance is wonderful!

Their thoughts, their attitude is primed to help them advance. We can adopt the good components of their mind set to advance ourselves as well. The same is true about people who have health, loving relationships, are great parents, athletes and successful in any other ways. Attitude is everything. Attitude determines your altitude!

Affirmations allow us to look for examples in the world around us and find them. People erroneously think ‘Seeing is believing’ but it is actually reversed. ‘What we believe determines what we see’. This is verified over and over again by research. We also tend to live up to the expectations placed on us by others and by ourselves. Our mind set is critical to how far we are able to go and what we are able to be and do.

When you begin to look for good things around you instead of the bad things you will find them. The affirmation is an organizing principle around which we wrap our perceptions. You will find reasons to be joyful, happy, healthy and whole. If you look for the negative, the hurtful, the unfair you will find those too. Everything, all contrasts exist. What you seek you will find. What are you seeking most of the time?

Affirmations filter and organize our thoughts and determine what we pay attention to. We look for and notice that which helps us feel great. Look around and notice what is good, great, and wonderful! Notice what you are thankful for and delighted in more and more during your day. Stop paying attention to that which is negative, less than glorious and makes you feel bad. What do you spend most of your time doing?

Start validating the good things and don’t put energy into the bad things. It is NOT about wearing rosy tinted glasses and ignoring needs and problems. It is all about being in a positive and productive place to meet those needs and solve those problems.

Much more is possible and probable when you feel better. You are far more resourceful when you feel good and do not let yourself get bogged down in negative or bad feelings when facing difficulty.

When you think abundantly you begin to realize everything is an opportunity. When all of your energy is the highest and most positive form you attract other like minded people to you. You mind opens up to possibility and you are more readily able to recognize opportunity and positive circumstances and events as they occur.

As you raise your stock in yourself, your confidence and your sense of worth soars you move differently in the world and travel to different places too. You have the mindset to find advantages and to act resourcefully. It all begins within us! Unfortunately, too many people think it comes from the outside. That is why there are so many not living the life they want to live. Our thoughts make it so!

Affirmations help us organize our thoughts and see what else is possible in us and around us. They are positive thoughts and statements we can embrace and operate from to feel better and do better. I would rather fill my mind with thoughts of encouragement and support than anything otherwise. Wouldn’t you?” Rex Sikes

We will continue to discuss this further in upcoming posts.

Find the Fabulous! Today, look for the lovely!

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“In the buffet line you choose what you want and pass over what you don’t want. What you do not want and don’t like you do not give another thought to. Instead you select from what you want to enjoy, you focus on what it is you like and exclude the rest. You do not beat yourself up because there are items on the buffet that are not for you.

Continued from: The Power of Thinking Positive! How To Make Your Thoughts Work For You Parts 1- 4.

It is the same in everyday life. We need to keep our eye and our mind on the good now in our present and the good future we want to create. This is where we keep our attention and our energy.

Do not get distracted by present circumstances no matter what they are. Even if everything around you is crappy you still focus and concentrate on the very best you can find now and in the future.

Your goal should be to feel good. You should feel the best you are able to any given moment. When you are feeling joyful, happy and confident, you are in a better place to make your dreams come true. You literally vibrate at a higher level. You are more powerful and attractive. Well-being radiates from you. When you move through the world with power in this fashion you attract others of like mind and energy.

Here is another analogy. Imagine you want to build a house. You design it and plan it and get it just the way you want it. It is your dream home. You get everything in place to build it. Even though there may be problems with the land, the contractors, and the money, you still keep your focus on what it is you want to build.

Don’t let the other things take you attention away from what you know you want. Keep your eyes on the home you intend to build for yourself while you work to get it built. Do not get caught up in the everyday events and forget about your dream home. Do not let any circumstances shift your focus from what you want to build and have for yourself.

There are always difficulties and challenges. That is part of life. Do not make them bigger or more important than what you want. Do not get hooked or distracted or caught up by mundane or terrible circumstances. Do not focus on what you don’t want and what the problems are.

People think they have to focus on or deal with what they don’t want in order to make things better. You don’t! Yes, you may have to solve present circumstances but don’t let whatever less than glorious events or people life presents you with take you away from what you want. Do not give your energy to the problem give it to the solution. Keep it on what you want to have.

You will NOT get what you want by paying attention and giving energy to what you don’t want. It does not work that way. In all likelihood it just is not going to happen. You will only waste your time and your energy and remain pretty much in the same stuck place.

Yes, you can notice the problems and you know you don’t want them. You can acknowledge them but don’t give your energy to them.

Turn your attention back to what you do want and keep working to make that happen. Remain positive, optimistic, dedicated and focused.

Do this and you use the positive force of your mind and being instead of accepting the negative circumstances. Choose to prevail instead of succumb. Live as a victor and not a victim.

Most people get caught up in an endless array of details and lose sight of the goal. They go back and forth, they live wishy washy, they drift like a captainless ship at sea. They hope and then doubt and then hope again. They try and then get frustrated. They are positive then fearful, eager then anxious and this is what confuses the unconscious. The back and forth of emotions sends mixed messages so we produce mixed results. If you think wishy washy you get wishy washy.

Remember the principle of garbage in garbage out (GIGO). Whatever we put into the brain is what we get back out. If we write a bad software program we get poor results from the computer. We can’t run our engine on anything but the appropriate fuel. In order to get what we want we must do what it takes.

I am not suggesting that we have to work physically harder or longer either. That is a mistake to think that. We need to work smarter and wiser. It begins inside our head where everything begins. It begins with the thoughts we have. It begins with the seeds we plant. We can only reap what we have sown.

I am not suggesting we sit alone in our room and concentrate on having material goods somehow magically shower down on us either. That is not going to happen. It doesn’t appear to work that way.

What does work is that we organize our thinking first, this helps organize our behaviors and then we work smarter, wiser and more efficiently at getting what we want. We make it happen because we are at cause. We are in charge. We are in control. We create and we attract what we want.

We accelerate our potential to make it happen because we align our entire being in that mission. We are congruent, devoted, dedicated, focused, concentrated and passionate about making it happen. We become a person who is able to get what they want.

It is evolution. We evolve ourself, we make ourself into the kind of person who gets what they set out to get. In order to be that kind of person we must send a single clear, powerful message!

Positive Thinking is the ability to know exactly what it is you want, maintain your focus and your attitude, and stick with it until you make it yours. Trouble may come and go, you may adjust your plans but you expect to win no matter what. You focus on the good, the solutions, what can be done and you do it.

Positive Thinking training is learning how to focus your mind like a laser and target what you want so that you get it. When you aim at the target you focus where you want to hit. You don’t worry about the rest of the target or what is off the target you put your concentration where you want the projectile to land.

I have provided some analogies here for consideration. The point is this: it is all about where you put your attention. Energy flows where attention goes! Keep your attention where it is most useful and let go of the rest.” Rex Sikes

Enjoy making moments magical today. Look for good things!

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Our world functions repetitively. Day becomes night, seasons come and go, you wake up, follow a routine, work, play, watch the same TV shows and do it all over again and again. Our lives our based on repetition and habit. Repetition by itself can be powerful. You know that you can expect results when you correctly repeat exercises. When you repeatedly practice any skill you get better at it.

Continued from: The Power of Thinking Positive! How To Make Your Thoughts Work For You Parts 1- 3.

Advertisers know that repetition and repeated exposure creates awareness and brand identity. It has been said and demonstrated that ‘a lie repeated long enough and often enough becomes substituted for the truth’. Governments and advertisers have prospered and benefited from propaganda. So a lie constantly stated can become believed and accepted as truth.

An affirmation isn’t a lie it is an accurate statement. It may feel like or seem like a lie because you don’t think it applies to you. It may not be in your thinking or view of yourself or the world to accept it as a fact. So for you it may not seem true. But it can be true for you. It can become your truth!

Advertisers, media, politicians and all governments know (and they have invested billions in researching this area), that if you constantly present a notion, by repetition, to people many of they will gradually come to accept it.

Researchers also discovered that people will usually become more tolerant when repeatedly exposed to other people, other ideas and practices. We become less afraid and more accepting of that which is familiar. We find areas of commonality or overlap and we become more accepting.

We allow more and are more willing to entertain notions the more we see or hear them. This is why radio, TV, magazine, billboard and all media advertising is effective. It is through repeated exposure that ideas can become more acceptable to us. Do you think all the billions would be spent if it didn’t work?

Even fears and phobias can be overcome by the appropriate repeated exposure to what is feared. Systematic Desensitization is a method of safely exposing the person bit by bit to what they fear most. It works.

Studies suggest we tolerate more televised violence when we repeatedly watch violent and horrific shows and news. We become less sensitive to it. Lies become accepted as true, violence becomes less horrible, people and concepts become more familiar when exposed to them enough times. It works.

So when you repeat affirmations over and over again your resistance to these ideas breaks down. Gradually, you begin to accept and believe them. Ultimately, you embrace these new thoughts and begin to operate from them. You make them your own thinking and your new beliefs. You do this by constantly exposing your mind to the positive ideas!

Repetition works and there is a way to make sure it works even better. Advertisers, media, military and governments know that to make this process maximally effective you have to emotionally hook or involve the person. YOUR emotions are the key. YOUR strong emotions are the mechanism that makes this work faster and efficiently.

So while repeating an affirmation such as, ‘everyday in every way I am getting better and better’ lifelessly may transform you, it may take a a very long time. It can work but there is a more effective way to insure success. You do want success don’t you?

To get the most powerful results you pair your affirmation with tremendous positive energy while you think and say them. For affirmations to work the best and the swiftest they need to be repeated with dynamic energy and enthusiasm. The stronger your feelings the more you reinforce whatever is going on.

Do you understand this process? Your life already works this way. You have unwittingly engaged in this process again and again. Sometimes you got good results, sometimes poor results, sometimes wishy washy results. What you did not get is consistent positive results. You used this process haphazardly and without conscious determined awareness. You having been doing this all along!

Your emotions paired with your thoughts have already programmed you. Your emotions lock in your thinking. Now it is time to take charge and deliberately control what you think and do and what you get back. To use an analogy, your ship has been drifting and now it is time for you take control and steer it to where you want it to go. You choose the destination and you get it there! (The appropriate designation for ship would be to use ‘her’, when referring to the ship. I didn’t).

There is good news! You don’t have to learn to do anything new. You are already doing what works but you have been using it poorly. You have been effectively using this process, without awareness, over and over again to get what you didn’t want. Now, instead, begin using it purposefully to get what you DO want!

All you have to do NOW is begin to make a few adjustments and you can get on track to get what you want. You use what you already do naturally, but you use it in a NEW way.

Now, emphasize the positive most of the time and let go of the negative. Accentuate the positive and fill yourself up with positive powerful energy. Keep your positivity banks full, more full than the negativity bank. Go for 70% 80% 90% positive and you will experience great changes.

So what to do?

First, you have to decide that YOU want to make the change and that you will begin. You choose. Then you aim your mind toward what is good and new and delightful. Aim your mind at what you want and focus on that intently. You concentrate your energy and your thinking on the positive and let go of the negative.

One key to finding the positive energy and enthusiasm is to look at what you are already grateful for in your past and present life. Take an inventory of all that you are thankful for, all that feels good, whatever you have accomplished, anything and everything, and everyone and accentuate it. Do this everyday! Do it morning and at night and re-visit it during the day.

Focus on the sense of thankfulness and stay with the appreciation. Look around you at everything that is good and that uplifts you. Remember, what we focus on expands. We get and become what we think about most often. What we hold in our mind we can some day hold in our hand.

Read inspirational material everyday. Fill your mind with strong positive messages. Make it a habit to feed yourself positive food for thought daily. Commit to reading at least a page. You can do at least one page! Certainly, you can do more if you want. Make the commitment to never go a day without at least reading one page of positive, inspirational, motivational, nutritional messages. You can do this!

Listen to audio programs and watch motivational videos. There is plenty of free material on the internet. Turn your drive time into inspirational and educational time.

If you are typically dour, or unable to find anything, then you may have to pull yourself up using your own boot straps. Take a walk, and emphatically with powerful determination chant an affirmation. Repeat it while exercising, do jumping jacks or something that gets all of your being, inside and out, moving. Move vigorously. Remember what the military does to train troops. Find a buddy to partner, if that helps. Share your inspiration and enthusiasm! Put a program of action to work for yourself. Even if all this comes easy for you you can do these things too if you like.

Add delight, enjoyment, enthusiasm, eagerness, positive feelings, happiness, and excitement when you think and repeat your affirmations. Do this morning and night and throughout the day. Sing them, chant them, shout them in your car with a smile. Add uplifting energy to your affirmations. Make each of your moments count. Write them out and put them where you will see them.

I’ll share more next time. One of my favorite thoughts I use as an affirmation is a biblical saying ‘ this is the day the lord has made, rejoice and be glad in it’. It reminds me to be thankful, and to look for the good. I want to begin the day with gratitude and rejoicing. I return to this thought frequently throughout the day and at times when difficulty presents itself.

I think, ‘It is all good. Good things are happening even though I don’t know what they are, yet. Everything always works out for the best. Everything will work out because this is the day the lord hath made, rejoice and be glad in it.’

Remember the more you do the more you are able to do. The more you feel good and think positive the more you will make that happen for yourself. The more you will benefit because you take action and start the process. Train yourself to feel good and to look for the good and that is what you will find and have.

If you get off base nudge yourself back to the positive. When you steer yourself back to what you want, when you steer back to the positive you begin to send a clear single powerful message to your unconscious servo mechanism that this is what you want more of.

I repeat: YOU focus on what YOU want. Concentrate on it and fill your mind and being with good thoughts and feelings. If you get off base steer back to the positive. Course correct and get back on course. Always aim at your target and nowhere else!

When you maintain this practice you inform your unconscious servant that this is what you want ALL the time. Program your brain, your mind and being for success. Determine what you want and forgo what you don’t just as when you are at a buffet table. As you do this repeatedly, through time, you are developing positive habits which work automatically.

These are the seeds you plant. Expect to reap good things when you plant good strong seeds. You WILL reap if YOU first plant them.

This is necessary to understand. PLANT positive seeds and NURTURE them to fruition. They will grow and flower and you will benefit again and again as they do. EXPECT a great harvest. When the time comes you will REAP even more of the benefits. Actually, you will benefit all along the way. It IS a very enjoyable process once you begin.” Rex Sikes

Enjoy today. Amaze yourself with what wonderful moments you can discover!

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“Quantity is one thing. How much, how often, for how long is necessary to consider, it is important, but quality matters too. It matters a lot! Some people lifelessly repeat an affirmation perhaps thousands of times expecting it to somehow transform them. It usually doesn’t. It may, but rarely. Listless repeating of a phrase is not the correct application of this practice.

It is not the words that make the difference but the energy behind the words. That is the ‘special something’ required that makes it work.

We continue from The Power of Thinking Positive! How To Make Your Thoughts Work For You Parts 1 and 2.

Since we get back whatever we are thinking about and feeling strongly about now is the time to consider choosing what one wants instead of allowing for whatever happens.

When we are angry or fearful we are thinking and feeling powerful thoughts which the unconscious mind receives as a message to deliver more of the same. It gets the energy of the thoughts and feelings.

Instead of letting this negativity go on and on we need to first decide to change it and begin having the life and getting the things we want. This is why we choose to focus on what we want. We shift our attention and our energy.

To make this shift we chose positive powerful thoughts and ideas to think. We choose to affirm instead of deny. We choose affirmations we want to focus on to direct our attention to those aspects of life we want to include and get for ourselves.

It is a means of directing our attention so that we PAY ATTENTION and concentrate on these. Whatever we hold most in our mind most often is what we get and become.

Everything is Energy!

A person should choose an affirmation and put power behind it. It requires energy and enthusiasm when you think and utter the affirmation. Emotion and energy IS what makes the difference! Sadly, these are what is left out of affirmation training. Yes, I said training because just like exercise or dieting it means adhering to the program.

Energy and enthusiasm is important. Big emotions are what capture the attention of the unconscious (servo-mechanism) mind.

Everything is energy!

When we feel bad we are feeling and endorsing that energy. When we feel good we are feeling and endorsing that energy. Whatever energy we experience most determines what our life is like.

Everything is energy!

Positive Thinking Training – Train your mind to see the good things in everything. When you focus on the positive energy you find more of it.

The military understands how to transform a human’s thinking. They make troops chant, scream, sing what they want to instill in them during all different forms of physical activity, stress, exhilaration and exhaustion. They want their training to stick so that lives are saved.

They train rigorously so that when the troop needs to react without thinking the troop will. If some one yells ‘hit the dirt’ they must without hesitation or thinking about it. Therefore they undergo intense physical, mental and attitudinal training to wire in what is critical to their survival. They want it automatic and reliable.

Stay with it. Never give up! IT will get easier as you go along. Your skills and abilities increase with practice in time. You will get better and it will get easier. BUT even if it never got any easier you should stay with it. When you make having it a necessity you will get it.

Passion drives everything. When ‘YOU MUST’ is what opens the doors. Wimpy and shallow doesn’t get the prize. Think Olympic contenders and what they do for years to compete for seconds. Their attitude and their training is rigorous. Their attitude and training determines how far they can go. Even if they fail to win the gold they are in the top tier of world class athletes.

Using affirmations and learning to embody the practice can be a whole lot more fun and less stressful than military training, it can be wonderful, but there are take away points to utilize from that style of immersion. Troops undergo intense process, it is highly emotional, and there is little let up during the training.

Keep in mind the military is attempting to break the habitual thinking the troop has when they arrive at camp and instill a new one. Frankly, it is brainwashing. Whether you agree or disagree with the practice or the military is a consideration for a different discussion. I am not agreeing nor disagreeing with it but utilizing aspects to make a point.

Brains could use a good washing from time to time. If you have habitually a bad attitude and aren’t getting the results you want then a change may be in order. If you want to transform and if you want it to be different IT absolutely can be. But there is a price for that change. The price is what you are willing to do to have what you want (legally of course). That does not mean we become what we wish about.

Rather, we become what we obsess about, what we are passionate about, what we feel strongly about. That includes the good feelings and what we fear, loathe and are angry about. We become whatever we hold in our minds strongly with strong feelings. We get back whatever we give the energy to. This is why it is important to realize that positive thinking is a choice.

It means you begin the program and stay with it for however long it takes. If it took 3 months, 1 year, 5 years or longer you stick with it. You decide to dedicate yourself to yourself! You chose to do everything you can to be the person you want to be no matter how long it takes. You don’t dabble or drift, you pursue it and passionately. Passion fuels everything! Passion is the fire and you need the fire!

We will continue next time. For now know that learning to be more positive can be one of the most joyous and delightful journeys you ever take. I use the examples of the military and athlete training as examples of how far people are willing to go to get what they want.

You can train hard for certain just as you can work hard. OR you can learn to be both smart and wise and learn how to enjoy and delight in the process. The art and science of getting what you what you want in life doesn’t need to be arduous or difficult but it is not pie in the sky either.

You can find and have more fun than you every thought possible, you can celebrate and discover all sorts of marvelous feelings and experiences along the way. It can be like a buffet and you can have all the wonderful delicious things too.

It is true you can’t give up along the way to your destination and still expect to get there because you won’t. BUT you can make the journey so incredible, so marvelous that giving up would never ever occur to you. So get everything you deserve to have and start today!” Rex Sikes

Look for good things all around you and enjoy making today marvelous!

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“Our unconscious mind (the servo mechanism) does not distinguish between good or bad, right or wrong, the wanted or unwanted. It just goes wherever you place your attention. Whatever you focus on it works to create, manifest or attract. It doesn’t care it is simply blindly obedient. Whatever you think about most of the time and feel emotional about you end up getting more of in your life.

This unconscious servant works perfectly and reliably. The results you get in life are due to your attention and feelings. What you focus on is what you get and become.

This point is important as we continue our discussion on Positive Thinking. Continued from: The Power of Thinking Positive! How To Make Your Thoughts Work For You.

When you feel frustrated, angry, disappointed, annoyed, sad, stressed, doubt, afraid, anxious, fearful, any less than glorious feeling you are reinforcing that feeling in your body and your mind.

The unconscious mechanism runs off our feelings. Whatever we experience strongly it works to reinforce, re-create and bring us more of. It is as if this servant thinks, ‘if this is what the human wants, okay let’s give the human more!’

The same is true when we feel happy, joy, bliss, confidence, love, peace, calm, whatever we feel strongly the unconscious mind works to deliver more of. This is why it is important for us to choose what we think about and how we feel.

Every emotion is an important one. You and I will at times experience them all. All emotions are part of being human. Contrast is a part of the human and experience in our universe. There is hot, cold, light, dark, day, night, near, far, fast, slow, tall, short, fat, thin, rough, smooth, black, white, red, green, good, bad, wanted and unwanted, happy, sad, confident, not-confident and many more.

All of these contrasts we notice through our five senses. In order to notice the difference between these some form of evaluation is necessary. Some could be noticed without judgement or with judgement.

For example, something could be near or far away. That may not require any feeling about it but one could judge it as either better or worse. Humans label and humans judge. One might feel it is better if it were nearer or if it farther away.

Whatever the distance is JUST IS. The human decides whether it is a good or bad thing. Sometimes this works in the human’s favor and at other times it presents a limitation or difficulty for the human.

Whatever we feel about these constitutes an opinion. We all know what they say about opinions right? We all have them but they do not make anything inherently right or wrong. We just think our opinions matter.

The same is true about emotions. They are all valid. They are all important. We will experience all or most of them during our lifetime. This is a given. Just as when you pick up a stick from the ground you pick up both ends of the stick. So all emotions are part of being human and Positive Thinking IS NOT about ignoring or blocking emotions.

Since we have the potential to feel an emotional range accept that. We shouldn’t fight our emotions we should accept and allow them. Feeling is what being human is all about.

When we have the less than glorious emotions or something that we do not want acknowledge them and then, when ready, move on. We do not have to be stuck there. We do not have to be in a place we don’t want to be, or at least not for very long.

I use the analogy of the buffet. If there are food items you don’t like or don’t want you don’t choose them. If you take something you don’t like and you think, ‘yuk’ you put it down and move onto something else you do like.

If there is a food you spot that you abhor you know you don’t want it so you are free not to have it. You are also free to choose whatever else you do prefer. You do not keep reliving the moment you chose to eat a food you don’t like. You let it go and move on.

In the same way if there is a feeling we don’t want acknowledge it and move on. When we fight the feeling we get stuck in the fighting of it. What we resist persists. SO acknowledge, accept, let go and then turn your back on it and nudge yourself in the direction you want to go.

Yes, gently you turn your back on the unwanted thought or feeling and take a small step toward the ones you do want. Move in increments toward the positive. Take baby steps. Steer back to center as I have mentioned numerous times before.

The key is you. You are either in control or you are not. You either choose what to experience or you don’t. It may seem tough because most of us were not educated that we could do this as we grew up so it seems foreign or difficult. Like any other skill or talent it can be learned. Yes, it can be learned and you can learn it!

Since the unconscious works to manifest more of whatever we feel strongly the POWER of positive thinking IS in choosing what we want to manifest for ourselves. It is a choice point for each of us.

Positive thinking is about making a decision in the moment. You make the decision to think better, more productively than you may have been. Positive thinking IS A CHOICE!

Just like the buffet items are choices. Either you want it or you don’t. If you don’t want it you let it go and decide to enjoy something you do want. You turn your attention to what you like and find delicious. You move on down the line choosing what you want.

This is precisely the same thing we ought to do with out thoughts and feelings!

We choose what we enjoy and find wonderful then we reinforce it. We savor it, bask in it, imbibe it, fill ourselves up with it, spend the bulk of our time there, put our awareness or attention on it and think about it and feel good more of our time than otherwise.

When something comes up that is unwanted, yes, we notice it and gently turn our attention back to what we want as soon as we are able. Sometimes we take longer sometimes we can adjust more quickly. We move on to what we do want and not give another thought to what we don’t want JUST as we do in a buffet line.

We develop the habit of FOCUSING on and CHOOSING what we want.

We develop the habit of SPENDING time with what we want to feel and enjoy.

When something comes up that is less than glorious we develop the habit of NOTICING it and then TURNING OUR ATTENTION back to what we want as soon as possible.

We develop the habit of MOVING BACK TOWARD what we want when we are off track. We steer to center.

We are learning to make new abilities automatic and reliable through repetition.

Naturally we end up spending a greater portion of our time becoming aware, focusing on and thinking positive thoughts and feeling positive feelings as we do this.

The greater proportion of our time devoted to the positive the more we create and attract greater positive results. WE get and we become what we think about most of the time, This is why WHAT WE CHOOSE to focus on is important!

Think pleasure and pain. Which do you want more of? Which do you want to spend most of your day feeling? It seems a no brainer to me, but apparently not everyone thinks the same way.

What we do is reinforce what we want to think, be, do and have. We reinforce what we want to feel. We concentrate on that which makes us feel alive, vibrant, confident, positive so that we are more resourceful most of the time.

The key is in reinforcing what we want more of and letting go of that which we don’t want. It is not really a difficult concept for most to understand, yet, many do. We are telling our brain, our mind, the servo mechanism, our being, we want THIS, not that.

We want more of this and less of that. Whenever we steer our feelings and thoughts to what we want we are educating our servant to give us more of the same. We focus on what we want on the buffet table and ignore or pass over (without much thought at all) that which we do not want.

We don’t give any energy to what we don’t want because that would confuse the poor servant and bring us questionable, lackluster results. ‘Attention flows where the energy goes’ so our servant mind gets that THIS, these positive feelings and thoughts, are what we want more of. We send it a clear, distinct, definite signal. We provide it a clear, concrete, concise message ‘ GIVE ME MORE OF THIS!!!!

We focus on what we ‘can do’ what we can accomplish, we focus on what we want, how to get there, and solutions. We spend our time looking for and finding the best in ourself, others, circumstances and events. When we do this, repeatedly and often, as a lifestyle we begin to make it an automatic, reliable habit.

The unconscious servant, that doesn’t care about what it delivers, delivers to us what we want. We begin getting the results inside ourself that give us the edge when dealing with the outside. We enhance and improve our abilities and become more resourceful. We become more powerful and positive. We can accomplish more incredible things. ‘The more we do the more we can do’.

As Henry Ford said, ‘Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you are right.’ It is totally and completely up to each of us to determine the present and future we want to have. We decide and we determine the results we want to get. The saying ‘if it is to be it is up to me’ is one to keep in mind.

Another powerful reminder is, ‘You are where your thoughts brought you. You will go where your thoughts take you. You cannot escape the power of your thoughts’. Soon I will share more on why we energize with positive feelings and why repetition is required.” Rex Sikes

Discover today’s magic!!! – Look for all good things!

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